A giant octopus drawn using discarded ballpoint pens by Ray Cicin

Ray Cicin reminds us that great works of art can come from anywhere – and be made from anything. Inspired in part by his artist friends who denounced the lowly ballpoint pen, Cicin set out to create a great piece of work using just this medium. So he collected discarded pens from his friends to draw this massive octopus. The drawing is taken from German naturalist Ernst Haeckel’s famous illustration of squid and octopi.

“This drawing was in progress for over a year,” he said. “A week here, a few days there, up on the wall, then flat on a table. I’d put it away for a few weeks, a month, and then get back to it again. It was a demon I was psyched to finish and at times tormented to work on. It gave me a good beating in the battle of persistence.” [h/t thisiscolossal.com]